Guinea Fowl Drop is Cruel and Must Be Stopped
"Dropping the birds from that high place is contrary to all proper
care and treatment of any fowl and should not be condoned by those
interested in animal welfare."
Dr. Fred Thornberry, Professor and Poultry Specialist, Texas A&M
University

Machipongo, VA - Following a 3-year hiatus, the Quitaque, Texas
Chamber of Commerce is again planning to drop guinea fowl from a
moving aircraft 500 feet or more above the ground on Saturday June 1.
Two drops are scheduled: 11:15 AM and 4:00 PM. This witless cruelty
is this town's way of observing National Trails Day, a project of the
American Hiking Society devoted to cultivating a nation of hikers
dedicated to "protecting and maintaining foot trails in America."

In 1998, the chief promoter of the "guinea fowl drop," Roy Pigg, was
murdered by a townsman three days before the guinea fowl drop, but
the animal cruelty stunt was held anyway. In 1999, Quitaque Chamber
of Commerce president Bill Smith stopped the drop out of concern with
"liability issues." He told the Avalanche-Journal (June 4, 1999) he
feared some member of the mob chasing down the traumatized birds
could "fall out of a tree or off the top of a house." So instead the
town "replaced the drop with a bed race, where contestants board a
bed with wheels holding a guinea fowl and race to the bottom of a
hill."

Guinea fowl are shy, high-strung birds. They are poor flyers. They
never rise anywhere close to a 500-foot altitude. Being dropped from
a moving aircraft is alien to these birds' evolutionary experience.
Being dropped straight down from a 500-foot moving height is totally
different from a bird's preparing to take off from a branch. These
birds could easily sustain internal injuries. Let the town drop
inanimate objects that land indeterminately, like biodegradable
balsam-wood airplanes.

In a phone interview on May 30, Dr. Fred Thornberry, Professor and
Extension Poultry Specialist at Texas A&M University condemned the
"guinea fowl drop." Dr. Thornberry said, "It would be an experience
the birds would not enjoy. Treating these birds that way-dropping
them from that high place-is contrary to all proper care and
treatment of any fowl, and should not be condoned by those interested
in animal welfare."

United Poultry Concerns is calling upon the Quitaque Chamber of
Commerce--anyone who will step in--to cancel the guinea fowl drop
immediately. It is stupifyingly cruel and has nothing to do with
National Trails Day. For more information call Karen Davis at
757-678-7875.

United Poultry Concerns is a nonprofit organization that promotes the compassionate and respectful treatment of domestic fowl. For more information visit
www.UPC-online.org